DETROIT – The man who was involved in a violent arrest on Detroit’s east side spoke out about the incident.
Bystanders seen in the video of the incident that occurred Monday (Sept. 18) said Larry Morrison was trying to get into his own car after locking his keys inside.
Morrison was released several hours later with all charges dropped, and now he’s sitting down with Fieger Law.
He said he doesn’t feel safe coming out his front door anymore after everything that happened right outside his family house.
“I’m aching still,” said Morrison. “I’m still kind of confused. I’m trying to process everything. Trying to register it.”
The incident still haunts Morrison after he was roughed up and arrested.
“They pulled up, and they asked me a question,” Morrison said. “I told them I was at my family’s house. I just got here, and I locked my keys in the car, and I didn’t think it was gonna go that far at all.”
Morrison said he still thinks back to moments he thought would be his last as he was maced, punched, and beaten down. At one point, he was not able to breathe, just like George Floyd.
“I thought about his name, and I kind of thought it was over once I was saying I couldn’t breathe, and nobody was helping,” Morrison said. “I thought I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
It all came as a surprise to his lawyer with Fieger Law, Gary Felty Jr.
“I was very, very surprised to see the absence of de-escalation,” said Felty Jr.
Video from a Ring camera showed the incident playing out from a wider angle, depicting how it escalated so quickly.
“It’s just a person trying to get his keys out,” Felty Jr. said. “I’m shocked that the simple effort at looking into a window and validating a story rose to the level of commands and things that aren’t permitted to be done unless an officer has a reasonable suspicion.”
Felty Jr. says it was a public humiliation tactic, as one officer blatantly tries to cover Morrison’s head with his own hood.
Even after all that, Morrison was released from jail just a few hours later and will not face any charges. As far as what happens next, the matter remains under investigation.
“I believe they have attempted to reach out to Mr. Morrison, but you know, there’s more than an apology,” Felty Jr. said. “There’s more than ‘We did something wrong.’ It’s, you know, make amends.”
Morrison said he just wants people to be held accountable for their actions.